Goodbye Comcast! I finally got rid of cable—and slipping out of that noose was easier than I thought

 

Two Fridays ago in the office, as I was clearing my desktop of the weekly havoc of emails and excels before calling it a day, my coworker Steve (who sits directly behind me) asked me if I had any plans for the weekend.  I said “Other than a mushroom pizza and catching the season premiere of ‘Walking Dead’, no.  I may write a new blog.”  He said “I don’t want to hear it!  You post false blogs!” 

I said “What are you talking about??”  He said “It’s true—you wrote a couple MONTHS ago about getting rid of cable, and I’ve been waiting ever since to see how things turned out!  Well—did you??”  I said “Er… now look Steve, I got the indoor antenna, but it has to sit on a HUGE stack of books on top of my stereo to pull in all the channels, and I can’t walk within 3 feet of it or sit on the left side of my sofa or I lose half of —“  He cut me off.  “Ha!  I knew it—I knew you couldn’t get rid of your cable!  You’re roped in just like the rest of us!” 

I knew right then & there I was getting rid of that damn cable. 

As soon as I got home, I went online and ordered a dvr I’d been reading about the last couple months—the Tivo Roamio, their latest offering and designed especially for OTA (antenna tv).  I got it last week and long story short—I am in mad, crazy love.  It works like a dream.

Half the size and a fraction of the weight of that clunky Comcast DVR, and with double the features; the remote controls my tv too

Not knowing what to expect, I hooked it into my indoor antenna and tv.  It promptly asked me if I had wifi (yes) and for my zip-code.  And then for 20 minutes, my screen went dark (except for a small Tivo logo) with the words “Hang on…just a few more minutes”.  And then suddenly this appeared on my tv:

After that, a series of instructional screens directed me how to use the remote, and a reminder to activate the Tivo service.  It’s $14.99 a month and some cord-cutters have complained about the fee—all I know is, it’s going to save me over $100.00 a month.

And I’m not sure why, but my “sensitive” Mohu Curve antenna (which plugs into the Tivo now instead of the tv) is now working twice as good as before.  It no longer needs to sit atop a stack of books, it’s right on top of my stereo and movement in the room or nearby objects doesn’t seem to affect it.  I don’t get it, but I’m grateful!

 

I get ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, 4 PBS channels, 6 ION channels, CW, MyTV (a movie channel), MeTV, GetTV, RetroTV, CoziTV, QVC & HSN--all in crystal clear, hi-definition format

And still, the best was yet to come.  Besides being able to pause “live tv” and record shows like my Comcast DVR (it will skip repeats unless you tell it otherwise—and will automatically change the recording schedule if your show has moved to a new night or time), the Tivo “merges” your antenna with the internet to make your tv a more cable-like experience.  And with much nicer screens too!   Here’s a few:

Tivo Central is the main menu, allowing you to search for or watch recorded shows or access Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu Plus, YouTube, various music, news & weather channels

Here’s the shows I currently have recorded for weekend-watching

The Netflix Channel; I’ve subscribed to their streaming service for the last 2-3 years—now I can watch it on my tv instead of my computer

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I thought there’d be one disappointment, “The Walking Dead”.  It’s my favorite show and the ONE show on cable I didn’t want to go without.  (I’ve already seen the first two episodes of Season 5, and figured I’d have to wait a year to see the rest of them on Netflix.)  It turns out I don’t have to—they’re all available, the day after they air on AMC, for $1.99 an episode.   I think those zombies are worth the $25.00 I’ll have to cough up for ‘em!

  THANK YOU TIVO